Improvement in electric lamps



W. E. SAWYER 8a A. MAN. Electric-Lamp.

No.. 210,809. Patented Dec. 10,1878.

1 1/ D WITNESSES. //VVN T0/9$. I M

N.PETERS, PHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER, WASHxNGToN. n C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

dflLLlAl'l E. SAXYYER, OF NEW YORK, AND ALBON MAN, OE BROOKLYN, N. Y.

ELECTRIC LAMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,809, dated December10, 1878; application filed November 5, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM EDWARD SAWYER,of the city, county, and State of New York, and ALBON MAN, of the city0t Brooklyn, county of Kin State ot'New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Electric Lamps, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 205,144, dated June 18, 1878,granted to us, we have shown and described an electric lamp differingnot essentially, in so far as its main features are concerned, from thatof our presentinvention, the object of which is to produce a lamp moretasteful in appearance and better adapted to a't't'ord a successfulelectric light.

Beferrin g to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a sectional view of the lamp, and Fi g. 2 aerosssection of apart thereof. In Figs. 3 and d we have indicatedmodifications which may be made in the form of the internal conductors.

A is a glass globe, provided with a flange, B, substantially as shownand described in the Letters Patent referred to. G is the stopper; a aare the tubularbolts passing through the same, andf and G are cushionsto soften the pressure upon the glass flange and stopper of the twometal flanges l) and 1*, drawn together by bolts E E, the whole of whichhas been fully described and claimed in the above-men.- tioned LettersPatent as the clamping device our invention, and of which we do notdeemit necessary, therefore, to enterinto a detailed description here. Thetube-bolts a c are provided with ordinary stop-cocks l) b, theconstruction of which is well known. Over the outer ends; of thesebolts, stop-cocks, and all, are the metal caps c c.

in charging a globe with an artificial atmosphere such, for instance, asdescribed in the aboveanentioned LetterslatenF-a long tube is passedthrough one of the tube bolts a, so as to reach the upper portion of theglobe, space bein g proridedtherel'or. The lamp then bein inverted theartificial atmosphere, enten ing by way of the oth r tube-bolt a,displaces the gaseous contents of the globe, which flow out by way cit"thislong tube. \Vhen the globe is sufiiciently well charged, and whilethe flow still continues, the long tube is slowly withdrawn, the outwardflow of the gas preventing the entrance of atmospheric air during theoperation. The long tube having been withdrawn, the stop-cock throughwhich it had passed is closed. To fully seal the joint we pour meltedbees-wax into the opening outside of the stop-cock, and filling the nutc with melted bees-wax we screw it up, so as to incase the entireexternal end of the tube with the bees-wax, an opening, (I. in the endof the cap permitting superfluous wax to exude. Thus the joint ishermetically sealed. To seal the other tube bolt we close its stop cockI), disconnect the charging apparatus, and proceed to treat the bolt andcap as in the first instance. To further hermetically seal the ca tireglobe, as by a hydraulic joint, we have recourse to a spun-metal cap, G,fitting closely to the fiange D, and held in place to it, if desired, bysuitable pins or screws.

The lower and smaller end of the spun cap, which is made open, is fittedwith an insulating-plug, H, through which passes a metal screw, 1,which, when all is in place, makes contact with metal strip 0, fixed toa cap, 0. The other cap 0 is connected by wire 9 with flange F, thence,by way of bolts E E, with flange D, and thence with cap G. Thus, to makeconnection of the lamp with a chandeher or a bracket, a metal arm ofwhich is pro vided with an opening containing an exposed insulatedcontact-joint in its center, the two constituting the terminals of theconductors leading from the generator, all that is necessary is to screwthe smaller end of the spun cap into the same until the insulatedcontactjoint and the screw I make connection, the electric currentpassing in by way of the spun cap and leaving by way of the screw 1, orvice versa. I

The application of the spun cap G is as follows The lamp is firstperfectly charged and the caps c c are put on, as already described. Thespun cap G is then tilled, or partially filled, with melted bees-wax,and the lower extremity of the globe A, the stopperU, the clampingdevice, and all the parts appertainin thereto are sunk into this fiuidmass, which, upon cooling, effectually seals the lamp. Ye

The spiral internal conductors shown and,

described in the Letters Patent referred to are somewhat unsightly. Inplace of them we prefer the long conductors X X, referring to Figs. 1and 2, which are made of a copper ribbon, polished or electroplated, andfolded in the manner shown, so as to form square gridiron-shapeduprights. These are screwed at their lower extremities to thetnbe-boltsa at by screws a. a. To prevent electrical connections at thebends or at intermediate points, we place in the same small pieces ofmica Y Y Y Y, and to render the rods firm and substantial we bind themat the ends with insulated wires Z Z Z Z. These conductors meet all therequirements of the spiral conductors of the Letters Patent referredto,and are much more pleasing to the eye. If desired, they may beconstructed as shownin Fig. 3.

The diaphragm, to prevent downward radiation of the heat, as fully setforth in the aforesaid Letters Patent, may be of any infusible opaqueinsulating substance, or of metal, as shown in the present application.In our present invention it consists of two metal plates, P P, heldtogether by bolts R R. The lower plate absorbs any possible radiationfrom the upper plate; but we may use more than two plates, or a singleplate, if desired. Joining the two plates is a tube-bolt, Q, in whichthe round metal bar or rod L is free to slide. The bar L is capped witha platinum or iridium contact-piece, O, and is actuated by means ofspring W, acting upon stirrup V, which has a bearing in the groove T ofrod L, and is pivoted in nut U, to which the upper extremity of one ofthe conductors X is connected. The rod L thus allows for any confractionor expansion of the carbon pencil M. For this rod we have chosen theterm the anvil of the lamp. The hammer consists of a metal bar, K,provided also with a platinum or iridium contact-piece, N, and it isheld firmly in place by standard J, to which, by way of its extension S,one of the conductors X is connected. The hammer-standard anditsconductor are insulated in any of the well-known ways, preferably by theinterposition of layers of mica at the points of contact.

The contact-points N and 0 may be of car- 'bon, although we preferplatinum or iridium.

In the drawing we haveshown a method of combining several of thediaphragm-disks P, of metal, so as to constitute the conductors of thelamp. The disks are held together by small rods 7:, alternate platesbeing electrically connected, as shown, and insulated from theintermediate plates by the rods h, passing through the holes 1', but nottouching the sides thereof.

The importance of a'number of plates, P, to prevent downward radiationof heat is manifest.

To charge the globe'we proceed as follows: The lamp being connected witha hydrogengenerator, we first exhaust the air, then We charge the globewith pure dry hydrogen; again we exhaust and charge with hydrogen,

and this operation we repeat until the original gaseous contents of theglobe are entirely replaced by the hydrogens We then, in place of thehydrogen, connect the lamp with a generator of pure dry nitrogen,keeping the globe A constantly heated by having it immersed in a bath ofhot water, exhausting the hydrogen. We fill the partial vacuum withnitrogen, or we may do it by displacement, and this operation wecontinue until the globe contains nothing but nitrogen, excepting suchgases as may be occluded by the inclosed materials.-

To drive these out We pass an electric current through the conductors ma). The carbon-pencil M is intensely heated, and considerable heathaving extended throughout all theinclosed material, thus driving outoccluded gases, the operation of exhaustion and refilling with nitrogenis continued until finally all the elements of danger are eliminatedfrom the lamp.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as such, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an electric lamp, the cap G, provided with an insulated contact,J, for the purpose of establishing the-electric-connection of the lampwith the terminals of the conductors leading from the generator when thelamp is set in a suitable holder, substantially as shown and described.

2. An internal conductor in an electric lamp consisting of strips ofmetal fluted or plain, insulated at their ends or heads with slips ofmica or other suitable insulating material, and bound together to insuresolidity of construction.

3. In an electric lamp, the combination of the diaphragm P, standard J,sliding bar L, spring W, and stirrup V, in the manner substantially asdescribed.

4. A sliding anvil L, held in a socket, Q, and supported by a spring tocarry the burner M and hold it against the hammer'K, the contact-pointsto be of platinum or iridium, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described method of charging the globe of an electric lampwith nitrogen consisting, first, of replacing the original gaseouscontents of the globe with hydrogen, and then replacing the hydrogenwith nitrogen.

6. In an electric lamp, two or more diaghgagm-disks, asand for thepurpose speci- WILLIAM EDWARD SAWYER.

ALBON MAN.

Witnesses I -WM. H. Cannon, E. R. KNOWLES.

